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Recycle it, don’t trash it

As the semester begins at Radford University, so does RecycleMania, the annual nationwide challenge that rallies students, faculty and staff to increase campus recycling rates.

For the fifth consecutive year, RU will join other universities in Virginia and more than 600 colleges and universities nationwide to promote waste reduction activities in the campus community. RU will report its recycling and trash data over a 10-week period for RecycleMania 2013 and will be ranked weekly against its peers in nine statistical criteria.

"Everybody on campus can make a positive contribution to good environmental stewardship by recycling," said Stan Wilkinson, RU Recycling coordinator. "Receptacles are scattered throughout the campus, and we recycle properly whatever you dispose of in them. Basically, we want to make more work for ourselves."

In 2012, the university achieved a recycling rate of 11.52 percent. University of Virginia posted Virginia’s highest recycling rate—42.26 percent—while American University was named national grand champion with a recycling rate of over 80 percent. During the 2012 RecycleMania competition, RU recycled nearly 80,000 pounds of plastic, paper and other materials, which included nearly 4 pounds for each student, faculty or staff member, including 3 pounds of paper per person and almost a pound of bottles and cans.

According to RecycleMania organizers, the contest’s spirit of friendly competition sparked important environmental gains in 2012. Nationally, 94.5 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials were recovered, preventing the release of nearly 150 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

A two-week trial reporting period begins on Sunday, Jan. 20, and the eight-week contest will officially begin on Feb. 3.

For more on RU's recycling and sustainability activities, visit the RU SustainABILITY website.